In recent years, church congregations shopping for fixed seating have encountered a growing dilemma in reaching a consensus over the choice of pew style seating versus theater style seating. For the past decade, the number of theater seats purchased by churches has grown significantly each succeeding year. At the same time, the sentiment of many congregation members in favor of pew style seating runs as deep as the roots of church tradition.
One of the strongest appeals that has made theater style seating attractive to churches is the extra egress space achieved by the self-lifting seats. Egress space is the passage room between the rows of seats. Ample egress space provides benefits in not only audience comfort and safety, but also in contributing to ease for maintenance and cleaning purposes.
Pews that are spaced a typical 36″ back-to-back may leave only about 12″ of egress, which is a typical minimum fire code requirement. Theater style seating, utilizing self-lifting seats, increases this exit passage dramatically. The present invention is directed to a seating assembly that embodies all of the important features of both pew style seating and theater style seating in one assembly. The present invention maintains the traditional appearance of pews while offering the benefits of self-lifting seats. In fact, the present invention provides advantage over what is offered by either conventional pews or conventional theater seats.
The egress dimension is just one of the areas where the seating assembly of the present invention is more advantageous than traditional seating. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the present invention can provide 22″ or more of passageway between rows, which can be double that of conventional pews and up to 50% more than most theater seats. This extra passage, while obviously providing greater worship space and traffic flow, also offers benefits in the form of greater seat capacity, lower seating costs, and lower construction costs.
Building codes restrict the length of a conventional pew based on the egress space. A typical code may restrict pew length to between 20′ to 25′ where an egress of 12″ is provided. As egress space increases, it becomes easier for people to maneuver between rows, and thus evacuation time will increase in the case of an emergency. Therefore, various building codes will permit additional seating and longer pews as egress space increases. Generally, an additional three seats are allowed for each one inch increase of egress. Accordingly, by increasing the available egress, the seating assembly of the present invention could be extended to more than three times the allowable length of a conventional pew, without violating code.
The seating assembly of the present invention could increase seating capacity over conventional pews. Longer rows mean that fewer aisles are required throughout the facility and fewer aisles obviously allows for more floor space to be committed to seating, producing additional seating capacity. Even if the initial cost of the seating assembly of the present invention is more than the average pew, the added product cost is far less than the added construction cost would be to expand the worship facility to accommodate the provided seating increase. Thus, the seating assembly of the present invention provides lower seating costs per person.
Moreover, aisle ways often empty into doorways. Because fewer aisles are needed with the present invention, fewer doorways are required in a construction plan, lowering overall construction costs. Similarly, the greater seating capacity eliminates the need for many intermediate steps in balcony related construction where aisles are deleted, further reducing costs.
The seating assembly of the present invention allows for the elimination of arm dividers typical to most theater seats, which arm dividers can be cumbersome. Arm dividers in conventional theater seats occupy 2 to 3 inches of seat width per seating unit, prohibit continuous seating, are a problem for larger people, and add maintenance as well as cost.
The seating assembly of the present invention may also greatly reduce the noise and maintenance often associated with self-lifting seats. The seating assembly of the present invention preferably employs a gravity lift, counter balance seat mechanism free of springs and other mechanics that generally create noise and ongoing maintenance. A preferred means of a self lifting seating assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,698,834, which patent is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Many additional benefits of such a seating assembly are disclosed therein.
Also, traditional pews must be custom built to reach a desired or specified width. The present invention may employ modularity to its assembly components to allow it to meet any desired or specified length. The use of standardized parts and modular assembly also provides for ease in adjustments in both seating design and assembly. The modular components also allow for ease in repair and maintenance of the seating assembly.
While worship seating does not have a significant influence on worship itself, the combined physical elements of building and seat design stand to maximize stewardship goals and ministry objectives. The goal of the present invention is to partner with the architectural team in bringing these physical elements together in a way that optimizes these common objectives.
What is desired, therefore, is a pew style seating assembly which, in an unoccupied position, provides increased egress as compared to traditional pew seating assemblies and theater seating assemblies, which allows for longer rows, fewer aisles, and greater overall traffic flow as compared to traditional pew seating assemblies and theater seating assemblies, which provides greater seating capacity, offering lower seating costs and lower construction costs as compared to traditional pew seating assemblies and theater seating assemblies, and which employs modularized seating components allowing the seating assembly to be constructed to numerous desired widths without requiring customized construction or components.